Sympathetic piano sound augmenter

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this invention is to provide additional force from the impact of the hammer of a percussion instrument on a string associated therewith by providing a sympathetically vibrating means to act on the sounding board area of such instrument to improve the sound tonal quality and resonance of the instrument.

United States Patent 1 Quitmeyer 1 Dec. 18, 1973 1 SYMPATHETIC PIANO SOUND AUGMENTER [76] lnventor: John W. Quitmeyer, 400 Oak St.,

Rochester, Mich. 48063 [22] Filed: June 30, 1972 [211' Appl. No.: 268,059

52} us. Cl. 84/189 [51] Int. Cl G10c 3/06 [58] Field of Search 84/189, 194

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Quitmeyer 84/194 3/1947 Tyson 84/189 11/1948 Tyson 84/189 Primary ExaminerLawrence R. Franklin Attorney-Gerald R. Hershberger [57] ABSTRACT The purpose of this invention is to provide additional force from the impact of the hammer of a percussion instrument on a string associated therewith by providing a sympathetically vibrating means to act on the sounding board area of such instrument to improve the sound tonal quality and resonance of the instrument.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures SYMPATHETIC PIANO SOUND AUGMENTER This invention relates to my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,634.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention My invention relates to pianos and more particularly to means associated therewith for producing musical tones therefrom.

2. Description of the Prior Art ln my previous US. Pat. No. 3,452,634, my purpose was to add to the effective sounding board area of a vertical piano by converting the lower front panel of the case to a freely vibrating member and connecting said member to the primary board by means of a sound post in such a way as to make the panel readily removable without disturbing the position of the sound post. The arrangement of my prior patent substantially increases the volume and tonal quality of a piano. However, it is always desirable to obtain a substantial increase in volume, tonal quality, and resonance in a piano whenever possible, and this is what my present invention accomplishes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this my invention to provide additional driving force from the impact of the hammer of a percussion instrument on the string of a percussion instrument by utilizing auxiliary sympathetically vibrating means to act on the sounding board area of a piano.

It is a further object of my invention to effectively increase the tone vibrations from a piano by providing a sympathetically vibrating means mounted to and combined with the sound post and auxiliary sound board means of my said prior patent.

It is another object of my invention to provide a wire coiled in the form of an extension spring balanced over my auxiliary sound board, which will vibrate in sympathy with any tone or combination of tones by which it is excited, the tension of said wire not being critical to the tuning of the instrument, and the weight of the wire controlled to obtain the maximum effectiveness in activating said sound board.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a plurality of wire coils connected in tandem to the auxiliary sound post of my auxiliary sounding board wherein said sound post further functions as a bridge to augment the sound produced from the piano.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevation view of my sound augmenting device showing the structural parts exposed to view.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1 taken along lines 22.

FIG. 3.is an enlarged view of my sound augmenting device showing in detail the arrangement of the sympathetic coil spring members with the auxiliary sound board and auxiliary sound post.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the structural detail of the arrangement of sympathetic coils to said sound post.

FIG. 5 is an elevational sectional view of a piano generally of the construction of my prior piano patent showing the location of the sympathetic coils with respect to my entire sound augmenting system.

FIG. 6 is a sectional front view of my sound augmenter taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing hereof and particularly to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 thereof, my sympathetic sound augmenting device is denoted generally by the numeral 10 and is shown as incorporated in an upright piano of the spinet type, and as disclosed in said prior patent, the general structure includes a piano casing l 1 encompassing the mechanism of the piano, the conventional parts of which comprise in part, a primary sound board 12, a metal plate 13 for supporting the strings 14 when they are tuned. Said metal strings 14 are connected to a peg or pegs 15 located at the bottom of said plate string over a bridge or bridges l6, and fastened to a tuning pin or pins 17 at the top of said plate. The piano device 10 is further provided with a key bed 18, and a drop action 19 with reversed abstract 19a commonly provided in such spinet pianos causing the reduced sound board area. Forwardly of said drop action mechanism l9 and below said key bed an access opening 20 is provided in such conventional pianos for required access to the mechanism of the piano for servicing same. Said access opening is generally rectangular in outline and is provided with walls 21 formed by said casing 11 to receive a cover panel (not shown) to close off said opening 20 when same is not being used. The bottom edge 21a of said opening is provided with a groove 23 for securing the cover panel at its bottom edge 23a and a spring clip 22 is provided at the top edge 24 of said access opening to snap fasten the cover panel into said access opening.

In accordance with my invention I have fastened a threaded rod 25 to the back of the primary sound board 12 at a predetermined spot 26 to which the sympathetic sound augmenting means 27 is to be attached. A hole or bore 28 is drilled through said plate 13 to receive said rod therethrough. A sound post means 28a including a wooden dowel 29 is then threaded to the cantilevered end 30 of said rod, and a flat metal latch plate 37 is now attached fixedly and permanently to the free end 32 of said dowel.

An auxiliary sound board 33 comprising a thin wooden board or panel 34 of generally rectangular outline is mounted rigidly on a likewise rectangular frame 35, which frame extends entirely around and adjacent to the edges 36 of said panel. Said panel is constructed of generally thin cross-sectioned material so that it will vibrate in response to vibrations transmitted to it through said sound post means 28a.

Said sound post means further includes a two pronged magnet 31 located to detachably connect or join generally axially with said latch plate 37 because said magnet 31 is fixedly mounted on a generally flat wooden rectangular block 38 which is in turn fixedly mounted to a sound board wooden dowel 39, and said wooden dowel 39 being fixedly mounted to a circular flat block 40, which block 40 is in turn fixedly mounted to said panel 34 by fastening means or glue 40a.

A sound augmenting sympathetic, greater, generally long coiled wire member 41 is fixedly fastened at one end 42 thereof to an edge 43 of said rectangular post block 38 by a screw eye 44a and stretched longitudinally from said edge 43 and fixedly fastened under tension to the short inside surface 44 of said frame by screw eye 45. A second minor shorter length sympathetic coiled wire member 46 is then fixedly connected at one end 49 to the edge 47 of said block 38 opposite to said edge 43 by a screw eye 48 and the other end stretched longitudinally generally linearly with respect to said greater coil member 41, to the short inside surface 49 of said frame by screw eye 48a. In general, when the coil members are in place they are generally parallel to the longer sides 50 of said frame, and parallel and adjacent to the inside surface 51 of said panel. The weight, diameter, and tension of the wire are adjusted to secure the maximum effective tone reinforcement, and said sympathetic coils of my invention combined with said bridge block 38 as described and shown is particularly effective in augmenting and improving the tonal qualities of the piano, since said auxiliary sound board is free ti vibrate independently of said primary sound board which primary sound board is hampered by the weight of the heavy bridges and pressure of the muted piano strings thereon, and after said piano string is dampened in conventional manner by releasing the associated key, said sympathetic coils continue to vibrate and incite the auxiliary sounding board for a short time, giving the effect of a very resonant instrument.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described and an abstract thereof stated, various modifications and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.

What is claimed is:

l. in combination with a piano having a casing, a primary sound board mounted in said casing, a metal string plate mounted in said casing adjacent said primary sound board having a set of strings mounted thereon and tuned to the sounds of a musical scale;

an auxiliary sound board including a panel constructed of generally thin, flat, rigid material mounted on said piano casing parallel to said primary sound board, said auxiliary sound board having a frame attached to one side of said panel at the perimeter thereof;

a sound post interconnecting said auxiliary sound board with said primary sound board to cause said auxiliary sound board and said primary sound board to vibrate in unison when said strings are activated;

and a pair of spring members, each having one end attached to said frame and an opposite end attached to said sound post adjacent said panel.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pair of spring members are of different lengths and are attached to opposite sides of the frame to lie substantially parallel to said panel in substantially a straight line.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sound post includes a connecting element cantilevered from said panel and an adjustable rod member cantilevered from said primary sound board, said element and said rod member being releasably secured, and said spring members being attached to said connecting element.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said spring members are coiled wire members. 

1. In combination with a piano having a casing, a primary sound board mounted in said casing, a metal string plate mounted in said casing adjacent said primary sound board having a set of strings mounted thereon and tuned to the sounds of a musical scale; an auxiliary sound board including a panel constructed of generally thin, flat, rigid material mounted on said piano casing parallel to said primary sound board, said auxiliary sound board having a frame attached to one side of said panel at the perimeter thereof; a sound post interconnecting said auxiliary sound board with said primary sound board to cause said auxiliary sound board and said primary sound board to vibrate in unison when said strings are activated; and a pair of spring members, each having one end attached to said frame and an opposite end attached to said sound post adjacent said panel.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said pair of spring members are of different lengths and are attached to opposite sides of the frame to lie substantially parallel to said panel in substantially a straight line.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said sound post includes a connecting element cantilevered from said panel and an adjustable rod member cantilevered from said primary sound board, said element and said rod member being releasably secured, and said spring members being attached to said connecting element.
 4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said spring members are coiled wire members. 